Britain Vows Retaliation if Russia Poisoned Former Spy
- 6 years ago
Britain Vows Retaliation if Russia Poisoned Former Spy
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑAMARCH 6, 2018
LONDON — Calling Russia "a malign force around the world," Britain’s foreign secretary on Tuesday vowed retaliation if investigators find
that Moscow is behind the apparent poisoning of a former Russian intelligence officer and his daughter in southern England.
But, speaking in the House of Commons, he noted the widespread speculation
that Russia was to blame and "the echoes of the death of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006." Mr. Litvinenko, another former Russian agent, was fatally poisoned in London, and a British investigation concluded that he had been killed on orders from the Kremlin.
officer who was poisoned with polonium, a radioactive element — a death
that the British investigation later said was probably approved by Mr. Putin — and about reports that a number of people at odds with the Russian government had died in Britain under murky circumstances.
"The specialist resources that sit with the counterterrorism network
that I coordinate across the country and other partners are working with Wiltshire police to get the bottom of it," Mr. Rowley, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, told BBC radio.
Mr. Johnson said that Should evidence emerge that implies state responsibility, then Her Majesty’s government will respond appropriately and robustly,
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑAMARCH 6, 2018
LONDON — Calling Russia "a malign force around the world," Britain’s foreign secretary on Tuesday vowed retaliation if investigators find
that Moscow is behind the apparent poisoning of a former Russian intelligence officer and his daughter in southern England.
But, speaking in the House of Commons, he noted the widespread speculation
that Russia was to blame and "the echoes of the death of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006." Mr. Litvinenko, another former Russian agent, was fatally poisoned in London, and a British investigation concluded that he had been killed on orders from the Kremlin.
officer who was poisoned with polonium, a radioactive element — a death
that the British investigation later said was probably approved by Mr. Putin — and about reports that a number of people at odds with the Russian government had died in Britain under murky circumstances.
"The specialist resources that sit with the counterterrorism network
that I coordinate across the country and other partners are working with Wiltshire police to get the bottom of it," Mr. Rowley, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, told BBC radio.
Mr. Johnson said that Should evidence emerge that implies state responsibility, then Her Majesty’s government will respond appropriately and robustly,